is this oil catch tank any good

18th September 2010, 18:55

as above really dont want it to built up pressure in the crank case and was wondering if this will be okay for that?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/-CITROEN-SAXO-...533c93ff515b12

18th September 2010, 19:01

yeah it be fine

18th September 2010, 19:45

okay now id like to know if are they even worth it? iv read someone saying its good to have the oil going into the throttle body to keep it lubed then other people saying they are good because they stop oil and shit getting into the throttle body etc i dont know what advice is best

18th September 2010, 20:19

for a performance point of view, you dont want to be burning oil vapour.

from my experience generally the "ebay special" oil coolers dont have big enough ports on them.

if you look at the size of your standard breather outlets (you may have 2 or even more!) and add that total area up.. you probably have a total of say a 19mm hole... so putting it into a 15mm breather pipe with a little shiny filter on the end is going to be a restriction.

also remember in standard form the breathers go back to the engine so are in vacuum too.

as a basic rule, your outlet from your breather tank should be 50% larger than the breather pipes going into it.

typically its usually installation thats the biggest issue, people use the incorrect pipes, or bodge a 9mm breather onto a 1/2" outlet with some insulating tape lol (yes we have seen it) and suprsingly very commonly on turbo conversions, we still see people plumb breather outlets fromt he intake, which are now under boost pressure, back into the rocker cover!! they then wonder why they blow their oil out lol.

some race engines when using dry sump systems run special seals, which allow them to run the engines crankcase in vacuum to free up more power.

regards

colin.

18th September 2010, 20:48

colin, all road engines crankcases are under vacuum from the factory, this is in a bid to remove oil vapour from the crankcase but also increase performance (slightly) by reducing pumping losses.

The most ideal breather system is one that vents back into the inlet, but has a oil separator, and a PCV valve inline with it. Im currently doing a large project on this at work and breather systems are much more complicated and important than most people (myself included) think/thought.

18th September 2010, 21:40

yes, i agree, you will see in my previous post i state "also remember in standard form the breathers go back to the engine so are in vacuum too."

i refer to race car application in the fact the engines breather system does not vent back to the intake, yet they utilise the dry sump pump to create the engine crankcase vacuum.

all depends what your "ideal" is doesnt it...

race car ideal is no oil vapour, for maximum power.

road car ideal is to meet emission laws with minimal effect on performance and fuel economy

it is certainly an interesting project you are working on.

breather systems are often overlooked by people tuning cars, would be good reading to do a write up on your project. would be useful for people on here.

regards

colin.

19th September 2010, 11:31

cheers for that colin i was hoping to have input from you

so basicly that specific oil catch tank is not ideal as it comes with 15mm connector holes.
so i do idealy want to have the vacum idea so needs to be plumbed into the induction piping? i had read that it didnt need to go back into the induction and i seen a few where they just put pipe from rocker cover to oil catch tank then pipe from oil catch tank down low in the engine bay with no filter on. is that a stupid thing to do?
do you think its worth while doing the oil catch tank or shall i just plump it straight from the rocker cover to the induction? basicly i just brought a procomp and i dont fancy oil vapours ruining any chance of gain i may get from the procomp but if its really not worth while etc i may aswell just plump it straight into the 90degre bend i have coming from throttle body to induction kit. do you think that is a perfectly fine setup. or do you think the oil catch tank is needed if so could you possibly point me to one that you think is fine? just incase it help any info itl be going on a 99 vtr n/a with just breathing mods.

19th September 2010, 11:53

also just looked at a mocal oil catch tank and the pipe inlets are 13mm so even smaller than the ebay ones :s
so im thinking best bet and safest bet is to just plump the oil breather pipe into induction piping and not o bother with the oil catch tank unless i get propblems with oil gettign into the induction kit filter etc
was thinking maybe just simply put an oil breather of a little pipe where the rocker cover is. is this okay to do or does it make the engine bat very messy. looking at the thread lower down show us your guts seen alot of people with it set up like that and with clean looking bays. so cant be that messy right

19th September 2010, 20:35

The catch tank you've shown there is the one that i have, it works perfectly well and the porting is pretty much the same size as the connection to the rocker covers and the return point on the return pipe just before the TB on my induction kit.

Only think i would suggest is to get some replacement hosing as the stuff that comes with that tank is crap tbh, It bends far too easily and kinks as well. I've got some decent silicon hosing on the way for mine.

19th September 2010, 21:29

as noddy said got same one the mounting bracket is kinda useless too. and piping if a good fit to rocker, but as said it kinks easy, i just stuck a jubile clip round the kink for time being to keep it open. then on spare hole a breather

20th September 2010, 07:56

I've not had a problem with the mounting bracket, but in any case its not had to fabricate a custom one for ones needs anyway. All in all though, the main part of what you get there, ie the tank itself is good quality and is well built, just the fitting kit thats a little bit spared on..

20th September 2010, 18:22

okay cheers for the input guys will consider that then.
do you have a breather on the other end still or have you got it going back to the induction?
also any pictures of your fitted etc would be really helpfull thankyou

20th September 2010, 19:22

i'll try and grab a photo tomorrow if i can. I did have a breather on the tank to start but i've now but the return feed back to the induction as the connection is there and was just left open at the time.

20th September 2010, 19:28

20th September 2010, 19:32

Its not the best of pics but thats how Ive set mine up. Literally just though you match up the pipes and screw it in place..

Ive "covered" up the vac pipe on the TB. Guessing that wasnt the best of moves? Would be good if you guys could go into detail on what is a good setup on these types of engines in each scenario (you know with arty pics and that

).

21st September 2010, 12:00

Just put a pipe to atmosphere

21st September 2010, 18:12

cheers fellas think that it now then will sort one out soon

21st September 2010, 18:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jungle

Just put a pipe to atmosphere

what and then get oil vapour and crap all over the engine bay - i think not!

21st September 2010, 18:34

You can stop that by putting a wad of mineral wool in there. This stops the oil vapour from Escaping as the oil is separated by the wool from the air

22nd September 2010, 08:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noddy

what and then get oil vapour and crap all over the engine bay - i think not!

No point the pipe down behind the engine

22nd September 2010, 09:33

mmm still i'd rather have a filter or tank on the end.

22nd September 2010, 10:49

too posh for me